The Meeting Of Great Minds
by P.J. Lowry
Summary: When two crime fighting billionaires meet for lunch, things are bound to get a little interesting.


When you first think of flying to California for a week, usually one has ideas of basking in the sun and seeing some sites. This however was not the case for Bruce Wayne. When Lucius had a scare and was sent to the hospital with a possible heart attack, he was ordered by doctors to skip his business trip to west coast. Even though Bruce didn't like the idea of leaving Gotham exposed without Batman, he had to take his place and it was only a week. But it wasn't what he was hoping for when going out to the coast as he spent all of his time at consumer conferences and in meetings with various CEOs who wanted to ween bueiness off of Wayne Enterprises. To Bruce, this was not worth his time bugt it was for Lucius so he toughed it out but was eager to get back to Gotham. He was walking out of a meeting around half past noon, when he was approached by a lovely lady, whose legs couldn't be ignored but also had a very pleasant smile.

She held her hand up in friendship. "Mr. Wayne, it's such an honor to meet you."

Bruce took her hand and shook it softly. "The pleasure is mine, Ms..."

"Potts." she quickly supplied. "Pepper Potts."

"Ms. Potts... a pleasure. Congradulations on your promotion." Bruce noted the name from some newspapers he had been reading on his flight to Los Angeles. "I don't remember having a meeting with the new CEO of Stark Industries on my schedule. For what do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

"Well, in this case Mr. Wayne... I'm just the messenger. I'm here to invite you to the meeting. Mr. Stark would like to meet with you for lunch."

Bruce paused for a moment and pondered the invitation. He had to admit having lunch with Tony Stark sounded a hell of a lot more exciting than the meetings he had scheduled for that afternoon. "Sounds like a plan, where should I meet him for this power lunch?"

"Actually, the car is waiting out front to take you to Tony. He's waiting for you at his home."

Bruce liked the idea of a private one on one with the industrial genuis and while Lucius might not like the idea of skipping a meeting, this was something he was actually looking forward to taking part in for a change. Another billionaire crime fighter, but one that was actually open to the public about what he did. Something he never considered but with all the advances he had been making in robotics, it made Stark someone Wayne Enterprises might want to associate with. "All right, let's go."

Bruce walked behind Ms. Potts and followed her to the limo that was waiting outside and stepped inside. They sat quietly in the car as they moved towards their destination. But when the finally arrived to Stark's mansion on the court, he was quite impressed. Potts hopped out of the lime and led the way, opening the front door with a scanning of her hand and retina. Bruce noted how advanced the security was for a private home, and thought it was something he should talk to alfred about in the near future. She walked through the door and a loud booming voice came over the speakers:

_"Welcome back Ms. Potts."_

"Thank you Jarvis." she said as she strolled through the foyer. "Is Tony here?"

_"He returned an hour ago and is in his shop. I shall inform him you and a guest have arrived."  
_  
"Please inform him that Mr. Wayne is with me." she quickly supplied.

_"I will do that. Welcome Mr. Wayne."_

"Thank you, Jarvis." Bruce replied, somewhat impressed with the internal system. He should have expected nothing less from someone like Stark.

Speaking of the person, it was only a few seconds later when he came up the stairs at a decent pace and held out an eager hand to Bruce. "Mr. Wayne, I can't begin to tell you what a pleasure it is to have you here."

Bruce shook his hand. "The pleasure is mine Mr. Stark, but you can call me Bruce."

"And it's Tony around here, okay?" he looked over Bruce's shoulder and flashed his boyish grin. "Pepper, I really hate to be a pain but this is going to be a private meeting. Boys only."

Ms. Potts replied with a sigh one would expect to get from your mother when you're being immature. "Well, if that's the way you want it. Take care gentlemen."

After watching her leave, Bruce continued to stroll around the living room. "It's quite an impressive system you have here in the house. I suppose it also works as an advance security system as well."

"Absolutely." Tony answered as he strolled towards the bar. "With all the stuff I got going on downstairs in the shop, I gotta keep this place as secure as Fort Knox." he held up a glass, "Drink?"

After all the meetings Bruce had been enduring all week, this was starting to be the break he needed. "Sure. Do you happen to have any Macallan over there?"

A wide grin creased Tony's face, "You have good taste, my friend." he put the glass down and walked over to the liqour cabinet. He punched a code into an electronic lock and took out a specific bottle. "I'm a good judge of character and I took you for a scotch man. I happen to have a single malt from 1930."

"Very nice." Bruce said as he walked over and took a glass. He took a sip of the very expensive scotch and broke out a smile of his own. "Now that is what I call a power lunch."

"Thanks for reminding me." Stark said as he took a sip from his own glass. "Jarvis! Contact Hitashi Bento and order two VIP sushi platters and have them delivered to the house."

_"Right away, Mr. Stark."_

Bruce was impressed by the technology that was clearly displayed throughout the house, but it was the one in Tony's chest that caught his attentiont he most. He could see the miniture arc reactor that was attached to his chest. glowing underneath his shirt. It's the same power source that worked as the electromagnet that protected his hear from shrapnel that was still embedded in his chest.

Tony realized he was looking at it and took another sip of his scotch. "I know, it kinda stands out when your chest glows."

"I've read a lot about it. It's amazing that you were able to construct something that remarkable in a cave of all places."

"I know, I wouldn't believe it myself it I didn't live it." Stark polished off his glass of scotch and put the glass back on the counter. "Do you want to see the suit?"

Bruce smiled like a kid that was just offered the keys to chocolate factory. "Lead the way, Tony."

"Right this way." Tony said as he decended down the sprial staircase located on the side of the living room. As they decended down the staircase, Tony stopped and did the usual hand and eye scan to open the door leading to his lab where all the toys were. "Welcome to the playroom, Bruce." he said with a smile as he let his guest walk in first.

Bruce strolled into the room, and the site before him was astonishing. Not only was the Iron Man suit in it's place, but there were several of them lined up against the wall. Some were different in color and size, and there was even a few that were covered up and not on display, likely projects still under construction. "These are amazing." Bruce said as he walked up to theoriginal model and touched the metal arm. "What kind of metals did you use for them?"

"It's a gold-titanium alloy." Tony answered, "I had to use it to take care of an issue I had with freezing when going into the upper atmosphere. It looks sweet but also can take a real beating. It's able to take hits from a 20mm Vulcan shell and even collide with a F-22 at high speed and only walk away with minimal cosmetic damage."

"What about that one over there." Bruce said as he pointed to the armor suit situated beside the original. It was a grey and blue plated suit that was similar in design.

"That one is a Hydro suit. It's made for underwater endeavors. The original suit is capable of going underwater but when wet it was noisy, inefficent and leaked. So this one takes care of all those problems and can dive really deep without breaking."

"This would be great for search and rescue." Bruce said as he then turned his attention to another suit, this one was red and silver lining. "And this one?"

"That's an inferno suit. It's resistant to extreme temperatures and is outfitted with foam to help extinguish fires."

"Engenius." Bruce said as he admired the product. "If you produced this for firefighers, imagine how many lives they could save."

"Don't think I haven't thought about that." Tony quickly replied, "Right now I have to be very, very careful about who I trust this technology with because I don't want it falling into the wrong hands."

"I understand." Bruce said as he put his empty scotch glass onto the desk that was in the center of the room.

"Well, if you liked those... you gotta check this one out." Tony walked to the other side of the room where one of the suits was covers with a large drape. He grabbed the drape with both hands and with a little showmanship, he quickly whippped off the large sheet to reveal his latest model.

Bruce stood there in absolute shock, looking over the battlesuit with complete amazement. He was looking at it from behind but could easily tell what it was. The suit was black as night, had a cape that was made of the same materials that was use for his own suit and the pointy ears on the helmet was a dead giveaway. In the middle of the chest was the glowing power supply that gave off a sharp blue hugh, but infront of that arc reactor was a plate that had the symbol of a bat infront of it. The glow from the reactor made the logo shine, giving it a very badass look to it. "This is amazing. The work is out of this world."

"Thanks, and there's no doubt who this is for."

"Doesn't take a rocket scientist."

"No it doesn't, Bruce. So... do you want to take it for a test flight?"

"Excuse me?"

Tony smiled and patted Bruce on the shoulder as he walked by, "Bruce, I was declared one of the smartest people on the planet... when I was twenty. Sure you've got the public in the dark, but I figured all this out a long, long time ago. That's why you're here and why I'm offering you a chance to share in this technology."

"Why do you think I'm worthy enough to have this gift?" Bruce said as he decided to concede.

"Because you and I are two of a kind." Tony replied, "We are mortal men doing the jobs that are supposed to be left to the super powered beings. We are better than them because we use our brains and our heart more than they ever could. We are the ones who stepped up to protect the people, and for that reason I can trust you. You're one of the good guys and for that reason I want you to have this."

"This really isn't my style." Bruce said as he circled the suit, giving it another look.

"I'm not saying you have to use it." Tony said as he walked back over to his own suits, "What I mean is if something huge hits gotham or some huge hulk like badass tries to break you in half, it might be handy to have this stashed away in your hideout to use whenever it's needed."

"Is there any other reason why you want me to have this?" Bruce asked, wondering if there were some ulterior motive to his request.

"Yes." Tony said as he opened a drawer and pulled out another piece of the armor suit that was a double of one of the arms. "This extra piece is armed with a weapon that is built specifically to take out any Iron Man, with a single shot."

"And you want me to have it?"

"Yes." Tony said, his eyes dead serious. "I want you to have it just incase two things happen. One: if someone mass produces these things and attacks our country. And two..."

"To keep you from turning against your own world."

"That's right." Tony said as he put the extra arm on the table, "There needs to be someone out there to keep me honest. Someone who can cut me down if I take things too far."

Bruce grinned and almost let out a small chuckle.

"I'm serious." Tony said, somewhat stung by his laugh.

"No, it's not that." Bruce said as he sat down on the office chair. "You're not the first to make this request. I have a personal stash of glowing green rocks in my cave to keep someone else honest. Everyone seems to think I'm the go to guy to keep them in place. What if I went bad? I mean I'd have the most badass arsonel to whip everybody."

"Like I said before, Bruce." Tony said as he quickly understood what was going on, "I'm a good judge of character. What you've been through, why you became the cruesader you are today is why I trust you and why he trusts you too."

Bruce looked back up at the massive Bat Armor, and sighed. "Do you deliver?"

Tony gave out a hearty laugh. "Usually I don't, but this time I think Stark Industries might be willing to make an exception."

"I'm going to need some more scotch."

"Yes! Now that's what I want to hear! We need get some women too..."

"To go with the sushi?" Bruce guessed.

"You see..." Tony replied with a grin as he tapped Bruce's shoulder with a manly slap, "Great minds do think alike!"


End file.
